Ford Heavy Duty Fan Clutch Snow Plow Package 2003 to 2010 6.0 Engines. Improve cooling performance with this heavy duty snow plow fan clutch, this fan clutch engages sooner and provide increased fan lock up. Installation of this product may reduce fuel economy. IPR recommends this fan clutch conversion over a mechanical 7.3 fan clutch for several reason. Please read our article for more information or visit the Facebook page link post at the end of this article: 7.3 Fan Clutch Conversion As a disclaimer, the observations and data logging acquired from this article is limited. The data acquired with a Ford IDS and was selected because I believe that the PID observed were the ones that would affect most people using their vehicle for day to day operation. There are other parameters the PCM monitors for fan operation that may be not covered in this article. It seems like everyone wants to lower their ECT because they think cooler is better. This is because many people are reminiscent of old technology when fuel economy/emissions was not a priority dating back to the 1980's and 1990's when most engines operate at 170 to 180 degrees. All modern engines needs to run hot in order for the piston, piston ring gap, cylinder bore and other internal engine parts to expand so the engine can operate at the specified engineered tolerances when running at normal engine temperature, tighter piston/ring gap/cylinder wall clearance reduces emissions, reduces blow by/crank case pressure and makes more power. The higher internal engine temperatures allow for a more complete burn of every drop of fuel that is injected. The fuel injectors operates with less stiction. When you start your engine in the morning and it's cold, do you notice that it runs very rough? As the engine warms up the engine is much more responsive, the turbo spools faster and engine idles smoother. Most modern engines run coolant temperatures in the 190 to 230 range, these are passenger cars that are not being worked hard, just designed to run hot for the reasons I mentioned. I've research and found many benefits of the Ford 6.0's electric fan clutch, many people may disagree but Ford is a multi-billion company that has many smart engineers above my pay grade. The electric fan clutch is constantly being controlled by the PCM and turns on/off/partial lock up based on load/multiple temperature sources/vehicle speed/Air conditioning requirements, the electric fan clutch is "smarter" than a "dumb" mechanical" unit. Converting new technology to old technology is no way to "improve reliability". During testing I've observed the fan triggered partially on at 50% to 70% lock up when temps are in 210 to 228 range, when temps reached 232 the fan will lock up to 100% for a few seconds and go back down to 50% to 70% lock up when temps drop to 228 and below depending on vehicle speed and load which is monitored by the PCM. There are several reasons why the fan turns on late. When the vehicle speed is above 50MPH the is enough air flow coming through the radiator when fan is not required to pull air through the radiator. Keeping the fan off when it's not needed reduces fuel consumption and parasitic HP draw from the engine. When the engine has to spin a fan, the horsepower is reduced, requiring more throttle input from the driver to maintain vehicle speed which also causes the engine to work harder and run warmer. The reason Ford kick the fan on late is because running 220 to 230 engine temps is not considered "hot", the engine is running hotter than normal driving conditions when it's not towing. Whenever the truck is used for towing you can expect it to run hotter vs not towing and this can be expected. The engine coolant temp can operate up to 250 degrees before the coolant pressure starts blowing the degas cap to open and relieve pressure. In my opinion, if your temperatures are in the 230's that would be warmer than normal, in the 240's it's running hot but not overheating hot. When you get to 245+ I would recommend to pull over or reduce vehicle speed to allow for the cooling system to recover. In hot climates when the air conditioner is turned on to AC Max, you can observe the fan lock up to 65%. During AC operation you will also notice the fan locking up at a higher percentage rate and observe the fan speed increase when the vehicle is driving at a lower vehicle speed below 50MPH, why is this important? You would want your air conditioning to be running cold when you are driving slow in traffic? There are many benefits to keeping the OEM electric fan clutch and back dating to a mechanical fan clutch removes many smart functions the factory implemented. I do agree that the mechanical fan clutch does help the engine run cooler, however it's not necessary and reduces efficiency in other areas where you could benefit such as AC performance, fuel consumption and unnecessary reduced engine performance. Condemning a electric fan clutch and calling it unreliable is more of marketing strategy companies have implemented. Most of these "so called problematic OEM fan clutches" have been in the vehicle for 10 to 15 years and have well over 100,000 miles on them. You should expect these components to be serviced and they are not problematic. With age and mileage I'm certain a 7.3 fan clutch would suffer the same fate. For cooler engine performance, there are several ways to achieve this without getting rid of your smart OEM fan. 1. The most economical way is "the blue wire mod". you ground the blue wire at the fan harness to a switch. Once the switch is flipped on, you can lock up the fan on demand and turn it off and let the PCM take control. 2. Have custom tunes downloaded in your PCM to have the fan turn on at a predetermined temperature based off coolant or oil temperature. IPR can reflash your PCM to achieve this. 3. Install a OEM Heavy duty snow plow fan clutch which provides better fan performance. As I mention earlier in this article, more/earlier fan operation reduces fuel economy and power. Ford discloses this in their packaging "This Clutch Fan is applicable on F250-F550 Super-Duties equipped with a 6.0L Diesel engine and 86M Snow Plow Package ONLY. Installation of this component may result in reduced Fuel Economy. In closing, I’ve heard of many arguments and disagreement with this subject. There are people that claim no MPG reduction and no parasitic draw and I must disagree. My opinion is supported by Ford’s Heavy Duty Snow Plow Package fan clutch disclaimer. IPR will be releasing a video of these findings. One must out weight the benefits before making a decision on what is best “for their own situation” Facebook Ford 6.0 Powerstroke Enthusiast Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1479494649003220/search/?query=fan%20clutch%207.3%20&epa=SEARCH_BOX
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